The 17th-century polyglot who studied behind a curtain to challenge university gender barriers

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Anna Maria van Schurman was a brilliant Dutch scholar, artist, and linguist fluent in fourteen languages. In 1636, she became the first woman to attend a Dutch university, though she was forced to sit behind a screen. Her life remains a testament to the struggle for female intellectual recognition.

Born in 1607, Anna Maria van Schurman was a child prodigy who mastered reading by age four and later became a master of languages including Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic. By her 20s, her home in Utrecht was a hub for European intellectuals. In 1636, she successfully petitioned university authorities to attend lectures, though she was required to remain hidden from male students behind a curtained booth. Her reputation as the 'Star of Utrecht' was cemented by her mastery of classical languages and her sophisticated artistic output, which included engraving, painting, and wax sculpture.

Schurman was a pioneering advocate for women's education. In her 1641 work, 'Dissertatio de ingenii muliebris', she argued that women possessed the intellectual capacity for advanced study, citing historical examples like Lady Jane Grey. However, her vision was limited; she advocated for education primarily for upper-class Christian women and accepted that their learning should not necessarily translate into public roles. Her arguments circulated widely, eventually appearing in English in 1659 as 'The Learned Maid'.

In her later years, Schurman underwent a profound transformation. Disillusioned with the Reformed Church, she joined the Labadists, a separatist religious community led by Jean de Labadie. In her 1673 autobiographical work, 'Eukleria', she defended her choice to leave behind her scholarly and artistic life for a path of spiritual devotion, drawing inspiration from the biblical Mary of Bethany. Despite the public backlash from her former intellectual peers, her work continued to influence thinkers like Leibniz. She died in 1678, leaving behind a complex legacy as both a champion of female intellect and a radical religious seeker.

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